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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The Departed
Watched The Departed over the weekend, and my thought was: now this is how you do an adaptation. Scorsese at his finest - no one mixes the sheer brutality and the lyricism of violence like he does. Top notch acting all around, and some beautiful cinematography - I thought the final scene was a marvel of composition, and then I watched parts again and noticed all the "X"s in the scene whenever someone died. And for anyone's who spent any time in Boston, the clear echoes of Whitey Bulger are compelling.
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Watched The Departed over the weekend, and my thought was: now this is how you do an adaptation. Scorsese at his finest - no one mixes the sheer brutality and the lyricism of violence like he does. Top notch acting all around, and some beautiful cinematography - I thought the final scene was a marvel of composition, and then I watched parts again and noticed all the "X"s in the scene whenever someone died. And for anyone's who spent any time in Boston, the clear echoes of Whitey Bulger are compelling.
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Stranger Than Fiction
I watched Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction a couple of nights ago, probably the first time I can remember Ferrell in a role other than "overgrown fratboy" - indeed, here he plays an IRS auditor, so he's very much the epitome of the straight man here. It pleasantly surprised me that he held his own acting against Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal (who, incidentally, I'm convinced has one of the sexiest voices in Hollywood).
Stranger Than Fiction asked thought-provoking questions on mortality, and the value of accepting the inexorable progress toward death - in the grand scheme of things, of course, we will all die (and Hoffman points that out), and what we leave behind as our legacy, I suppose, is our art. (A concept that made me think of Shelley's "Ozymandias".) But what happens when ars longa becomes the direct cause of vita breva? Thompson, playing the author Karen Eiffel, finally seems to be ending her struggle with writer's block by coming up with a way to kill her lead character, the generally average Harold Crick (Ferrell). Except that Crick's a real-life person, capable of real love (played by Gyllenhaal, subject of an acrimonious audit and later object of amorous affection).
How much do we accept the inevitability of death? How much will we sacrifice for art? And how do we lead a life that seems to have a mix of free will and predestination?
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I watched Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction a couple of nights ago, probably the first time I can remember Ferrell in a role other than "overgrown fratboy" - indeed, here he plays an IRS auditor, so he's very much the epitome of the straight man here. It pleasantly surprised me that he held his own acting against Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal (who, incidentally, I'm convinced has one of the sexiest voices in Hollywood).Stranger Than Fiction asked thought-provoking questions on mortality, and the value of accepting the inexorable progress toward death - in the grand scheme of things, of course, we will all die (and Hoffman points that out), and what we leave behind as our legacy, I suppose, is our art. (A concept that made me think of Shelley's "Ozymandias".) But what happens when ars longa becomes the direct cause of vita breva? Thompson, playing the author Karen Eiffel, finally seems to be ending her struggle with writer's block by coming up with a way to kill her lead character, the generally average Harold Crick (Ferrell). Except that Crick's a real-life person, capable of real love (played by Gyllenhaal, subject of an acrimonious audit and later object of amorous affection).
How much do we accept the inevitability of death? How much will we sacrifice for art? And how do we lead a life that seems to have a mix of free will and predestination?
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Sunday, March 04, 2007
Dreamgirls: And I Am Telling You
Dreamgirls is shot Bill Condon style - lots that reminded me of Chicago. Or is that just because there are so few movie musicals these days? In any case, for an avid, avowed Motown fan such as myself, Dreamgirls was a great exercise in spot-the-parallels (ooh, and just as I typed that, the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go?" came on): the Dreamgirls = the Supremes, Curtis Taylor Jr. = Berry Gordy etc. etc. (although obviously it isn't a direct adaptation, and Paramount has been careful to make clear that it's a fictionalised account).
But enough rambling. The fact is, Dreamgirls, like the musical it was based on, is a show of two acts, and the first act, which belongs to Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), is bang on in terms of that early Motown infectiousness (it must be really hard to write songs for a musical based on Motown, but Henry Krieger has the chops). And it's not news, but good lord, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is a showstopper. Jennifer Hudson's performance is electric - her voice is defiant and vulnerable at the same time - and it made me want to get out of my seat and just whoop in applause (it's up there with the version Jennifer Holliday did at the '82 Tonys). It's the kind of moment that show what musicals are capable of, that show how music can take a film to places that ordinary dialogue can't.
Incidentally, random trivia bit on "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going": Jim Carrey sang it on the last episode of The Garry Shandling Show. I'm not kidding. It was amazing. Sammy Davis did it on The Tonight Show in 1982, but didn't do it as well as Jim Carrey. (Link) Man, would love to see the Carrey take.
Back to Dreamgirls: the second act, while solid, is more focused on Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) and Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) and the trouble is, Effie is a character of such vim and emotion that the rest of the film post-"And I Am Telling You" pales in comparison. But perhaps that was Motown for you: after its 1960s heyday, where was there to go?
Posted by Daryl | Permalink | 0 comment(s) | Links | | Email this | Facebook This | Digg This | Del.icio.us
Dreamgirls is shot Bill Condon style - lots that reminded me of Chicago. Or is that just because there are so few movie musicals these days? In any case, for an avid, avowed Motown fan such as myself, Dreamgirls was a great exercise in spot-the-parallels (ooh, and just as I typed that, the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go?" came on): the Dreamgirls = the Supremes, Curtis Taylor Jr. = Berry Gordy etc. etc. (although obviously it isn't a direct adaptation, and Paramount has been careful to make clear that it's a fictionalised account).
But enough rambling. The fact is, Dreamgirls, like the musical it was based on, is a show of two acts, and the first act, which belongs to Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), is bang on in terms of that early Motown infectiousness (it must be really hard to write songs for a musical based on Motown, but Henry Krieger has the chops). And it's not news, but good lord, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is a showstopper. Jennifer Hudson's performance is electric - her voice is defiant and vulnerable at the same time - and it made me want to get out of my seat and just whoop in applause (it's up there with the version Jennifer Holliday did at the '82 Tonys). It's the kind of moment that show what musicals are capable of, that show how music can take a film to places that ordinary dialogue can't.
Incidentally, random trivia bit on "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going": Jim Carrey sang it on the last episode of The Garry Shandling Show. I'm not kidding. It was amazing. Sammy Davis did it on The Tonight Show in 1982, but didn't do it as well as Jim Carrey. (Link) Man, would love to see the Carrey take.
Back to Dreamgirls: the second act, while solid, is more focused on Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) and Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) and the trouble is, Effie is a character of such vim and emotion that the rest of the film post-"And I Am Telling You" pales in comparison. But perhaps that was Motown for you: after its 1960s heyday, where was there to go?
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Monday, February 05, 2007
Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
Watched Half Nelson at the Picturehouse on Sunday. Ryan Gosling does a fine, fine job as Dan Dunne, teacher, budding writer, and basehead. Worthy of the Oscar nom, and certainly living up to the acting potential he showed in The Believer. I can see Ryan Gosling following in the footsteps of Edward Norton, going the Serious Actor With Good Looks route. Or is it just because The Believer and American History X naturally invite comparisons?
Posted by Daryl | Permalink | 0 comment(s) | Links | | Email this | Facebook This | Digg This | Del.icio.us
Watched Half Nelson at the Picturehouse on Sunday. Ryan Gosling does a fine, fine job as Dan Dunne, teacher, budding writer, and basehead. Worthy of the Oscar nom, and certainly living up to the acting potential he showed in The Believer. I can see Ryan Gosling following in the footsteps of Edward Norton, going the Serious Actor With Good Looks route. Or is it just because The Believer and American History X naturally invite comparisons?
Posted by Daryl | Permalink | 0 comment(s) | Links | | Email this | Facebook This | Digg This | Del.icio.us
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